


sanctuary

by sayomiya



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, this isnt really planned so ill add characters as i go along, this might hurt a bit later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-17 02:10:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16507352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayomiya/pseuds/sayomiya
Summary: Entrusted with a duty to protect his family's treasured magic, Rei doesn't think much about it at first, but he soon realises that he can't ignore the threats forever.And the gods watch on from above.[UNDEAD fantasy/angel AU!! This will also feature other characters but it's mostly UNDEAD-centric]





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> so honestly,,,i have no idea where i am going with this. big thanks to a friend of mind for helping with some of the plot details, and i hope you enjoy this AU!! 
> 
> wanted to post this before kaoru's birthday ended but ended up being too late :") ah well

He sat cross-legged by the cot. 

 

His gaze was fixed on the sleeping boy inside, and he stared on in wonder and amazement—his brother continued to rest, murmuring incomprehensible things in his sleep, and he continued to look on in curiosity.

 

“Rei, come here. We’ve been looking for you.”

 

At his mother’s voice, he broke out of the daze he’d landed himself in, glancing up to see his parents striding into the room.

 

His father sat on the far end of the couch, and his mother followed, the both of them waiting silently for him to join them. They didn’t look  _ mad— _ he didn’t remember doing anything bad either, but their expressions were more serious than usual.

 

Pulling away from Ritsu with some reluctance, he made his way to the sofa, blinking at his mother in confusion. “What is it?”

 

“We have to talk to you about something” his father started, and he nodded, waiting for the man to get to the point. He always did like beating around the bush. “It’s important, so you have to pay attention.”

 

Rei nodded again, unsure of what else to do.

 

“Look closely,” he instructed, and a sphere of energy formed in his palm with a hiss.

 

Rei startled at the sudden movement, and moved an inch away on instinct before observing the ball of magic once more. It was unlike anything he’d seen before—he was no stranger to magic; he saw his mother use it all the time, and the art was growing more and more commonplace in the world—but there was something unnerving at the black flames that his father had conjured.

 

“This is what you call ‘forbidden magic’.” His mother’s voice was sweet at his ear, and it calmed him a little. “They call it that, but it isn’t actually bad at all. It’s something sacred that even the gods recognise.”

 

“I—” He swallowed, focusing on his father once more. “I don’t understand.”

 

He chuckled. “It’s alright. We’re not done explaining.” The man then closed his palm into a fist, extinguishing the flames and leaning back against the couch. “Forbidden magic is a type of magic that’s currently the closest you can get to the old elements.”

 

“It’s very rare, and quite deadly depending on the situation,” his mother chimed in. “It’s considered one of the most powerful forms of magic in the world, since it’s thought that the most primal of magic are only able to be used by higher beings.”

 

“Why?” Rei frowned at that. “We’re not strong enough?”

 

The woman tilted her head. “I would say so. Even for people like us, it’s  unknown if we can bear the massive strain of an entire element’s power.”

 

“But you’ll learn about that when you’re older. It’s not that important right now.” His father shook his head. “Our family has been looking after this strain of forbidden magic for generations. On your next birthday, it’ll be your turn to receive it.”

 

Rei stopped moving, and the gears in his head seemed to follow the same line of action for a moment.

 

“Don’t act so shocked,” his father uttered. “You’ll be old enough by then, and you’ll need time to grow into your power fully.”

 

“So…” He trailed off for a second. “I’ll be really powerful and stuff? Like you?”

 

His parents stopped, glancing at each other and exchanging looks before his mother laughed, reaching out a hand to pet his head.   
  
“That’s one way to say it,” she conceded. “It’s fine to think that way since you’re still young, but this is a big responsibility, alright? If it ends up in the wrong hands, lots of bad things will happen, and the gods won’t be happy.”

 

He didn’t really understand what she was talking about, but he just nodded along and grinned.

 

It sounded cool, anyway, and most kids his age only cared about simple things like that.

 

“That’s about it.” His father stood up from the couch. “We’ll teach you more about it after you’ve inherited it.”

 

He wanted to ask more—he had so many questions, and his head was still spinning. Still, if his father said to wait until his birthday, then he had no choice…

 

His mother ruffled his hair fondly, giving him a warm smile before turning to get up.

 

“See you at dinner, dear,” she waved, and then his parents were gone.

 

—  

 

“His birthday is coming up soon.”

 

The man took a sip from the golden teacup before him, eyes blazing as he glanced around at the others in the circle. “He’ll be inheriting the forbidden magic that the Sakuma family has carried for generations.”

 

“I’m worried about it.” One of the women let out a sigh. “Have you taken a look into the future? It’s impossibly dreary, and there’s a big possibility of a threat trying to obtain their magic.”

 

“I saw it too.” The being next to her nodded. “It’s very big, and I worry that their family will not be able to defend themselves. If the force ends up stealing the forbidden power, the human’s world will not be in good hands.”

 

The circle of gods sat in silence for a while, contemplating what she had said, before someone else spoke up.

 

“What shall we do, then?” It was a younger god; one that had been around for much less as compared to the rest of them. “Aren’t we not allowed to meddle in human affairs?”

 

“Yes, you’re right.” One of the more experienced goddesses clasped her hands together. “But we  _ can  _ send them our help in less direct ways. Long ago, we had done it, and were successful. Weren’t we?”

 

A god from the other side of the circle interrupted her. “Are you suggesting that we do  _ that  _ again? Create an angel out of this desire to protect the Sakuma family’s magic?”

 

“Why not? We have the power to do so.” The goddess laughed. “And we are all rooting for the humans, aren’t we? An angel is someone who is neither human nor god—they are powerful enough to intervene, but not enough to break the rules of Heaven.”

 

“Still, it’s a drastic measure,” someone else piped up. “Not only does it require energy, the angel in question would need to blend in with the humans  _ and  _ be strong enough to aid them in protecting their magic.”

 

“Do we have a choice now?” she argued back. “One of our roles is to look after their world. We can instruct the angel when it’s created—it may be complicated, but in the end, an angel will have to carry out its role no matter what.”

 

Silence swept over them once again, and a god that seemed like the oldest of them raised his hand to speak. “At this point, it’s the best option we have. All in favour of sending an angel down to help them?”

 

There was a momentary pause before a few of them raised their hands, and soon, all of their hands we raised in some degree or other.

 

“Very well, then.” He lowered his head. “That is what we will go with, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!! you can find me on twitter @ ikanyaide !!


	2. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whee!! actually got an update out,,, i hope you enjoy this chapter!!

“Yumenosaki, huh?”

 

Grey eyes scanned the sign outside the guild’s entrance, and the boy’s feet slowed to a stop as he took in the  _ OPEN  _ sign hung outside the building’s door.

 

He drank in the sight for a moment. It was, after all, one of the more well-known guilds around, known for its high rate of successful jobs and powerful mages—it didn’t just accept  _ anyone;  _ only those that the leader deemed worthy of joining.

 

Well, none of that really mattered to him in the first place. He was just here under orders—it wasn’t an angel’s business to meddle in such miscellaneous thoughts.

 

He hesitated for only a second longer before pushing the door open. 

 

It wasn’t that he particularly cared about whatever he was supposed to achieve, but if he continued to dawdle, he wouldn’t be surprised if an impatient god would take back their decision and smite him on the spot.

 

Maybe he  _ was  _ exaggerating just a little, but he liked the life he was living now—Earth was a lot more carefree that he had thought, and it was much better than the stuffiness of Heaven.

 

There wasn’t anything much when he stepped inside.

 

A wooden counter awaited him, the guild member behind operating it with little interest in whoever had just stepped in, and he could see a door that probably lead to the rest of the building, but otherwise, there was nothing of interest.

 

“Can I help you?” the tired voice asked from behind the counter, and he turned to face the jaded woman.

 

“That’d be great, thanks.” He laughed easily, trying to seem ease the tense atmosphere between them. I’d like to sign up here.”

 

She just looked him up and down, as if trying to assess him from behind the frames of her glasses, and if she  _ had  _ been trying to do so, she hadn’t come to a very favourable result. “Yumenosaki isn’t just a regular guild, boy.”

 

“I know, I know.” He looked at her, a smile playing on the edges of his lips. “Only the strongest, right?”

 

“Yes.” The woman nodded, barely paying him any mind as she scribbled something down on a pad of paper. “If you’re just here to adventure, I suggest finding a smaller guild. Do you have any credentials? Achievements?”

 

He swallowed, forcing a bright smile as he replied. “None at all.”

 

It wasn’t as if any of that would matter in the end, right? It would suck if the gods hadn’t made him strong enough to enter a simple  _ guild. _

 

“Right, come this way.” There was some sort of sniff in her voice that made him think that the woman was entirely convinced of his failure, but he paid it no mind. “We’ll have to assess your skills.”

 

She led him through a door that had been hidden behind her, and the two of them stood in silence for a few moments.

 

“What element do you use?” The woman locked the door behind them, and he inspected the room around him—it was cold and more spacious than he thought, with a few dusty boxes stacked on top of each other at the corners.

 

He put a finger to his chin. “Wind.”

 

She sighed. “Alright. Well, we’ll start. Just give me a minute.”

 

Before he could answer, she dug into one of the boxes and grabbed some kind of sphere. It was the kind sold at magic shops; a cheap ball of compressed energy that allowed its user to perform a simple spell, and he wondered what she was about to use it for.

 

He followed her past another set of doors, and when he next blinked, he found himself standing at the entrance to a forest, with a maze of trees and undergrowth ready to greet him.

 

“This forest is filled with monsters.” Her voice was icy. “We’ll be observing the situation, so we’ll stop the test if anything goes too awry. Your goal is to escape the forest—your skill and technique will all be assessed, so if you were thinking of using flying magic to avoid the whole test, don’t try it.”

 

_ Isn’t flying magic pretty advanced, though…?  _ He kept the thought to himself, and nodded along to her explanation.

 

“Well, I’ll be waiting at the other side. This teleportation sphere is for emergencies, and we’ll tell you if you need it.” She passed him the sphere she’d grabbed earlier and headed back to the door, leaving him by himself at the edge of the forest. “Good luck.”

 

He let out a breath that he didn’t know he’d been holding.

 

It didn’t seem like he had a choice.

 

—

 

 

The forest wasn’t as difficult to handle as he had assumed.

 

Sure, there were lots of monsters, but none of them were particularly strong. He could knock them out in one or two hits, and he was starting to think that the real test lay in the complexity of the area.

 

He cut through yet another annoying branch in his way, catching sight of a monster a few feet away and choosing to avoid it instead of going for the kill.

 

If his line of thought was right, he’d both be judged on how many monsters he killed and how long it took for him to leave the forest. He’d gotten a good number of kills already, so it would be better for him to focus on his timing.

 

It was good that the gods at least  _ had  _ the sense to arm him with strong magic, but he couldn’t helping wishing that they had given him a little more time to get used to everything.

 

He could see the forest thinning, and he was about to let out a sigh of relief—the whole ordeal had already been more than annoying, and he just wanted to get it over and done with—when he saw yet another monster blocking his way.

 

_ Is it some kind of boss?  _ It certainly looked bigger than the ones he’d fought earlier. 

 

Letting out a breath once again—it was too big for him to run from—he took shelter in a nearby tree, hoping to land a hit before it noticed him.

 

The monster let out a low growl, and just as it turned the other way, he let loose a blade of wind, watching with satisfaction as it crashed into the beast’s shadowy form.  _ Just a standard move to test the waters. _

 

He bit his lip. The monster was tankier than expected and more than a little angry at the sudden attack, but at the same time, the exit was  _ close. _

 

“Well, damn,” he muttered under his breath, waiting for his opponent to charge a little closer before leaping onto its back.

 

It stung a little being in such close proximity to what was essentially a mass of darkness, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. He shifted a foot forward to steady himself, raising a hand to prepare an attack, and then—  

 

Striking sparked an almost thrilling kind of feeling inside his chest. The blast of wind tore straight through the monster, ripping it apart until nothing remained, and he was left to fall to the ground by himself. 

 

He landed on his feet, taking a second to steady himself before strolling through the exit of the forest.

 

Sure enough, the woman was waiting for him, and her gaze flitted up as she stared at him in surprise.

 

“So?” He blinked, shooting a smile at her. “Do I pass?”

 

“You…” She trailed off before looking back at her stopwatch and notepad. “Yes. Your score was much higher than the average attempt.”

 

“Sounds great,” he hummed. “Does that mean I’m, like, officially registered or something? Sorry, I’m pretty new to adventuring.”

 

The woman paused. “That is not normal. Most adventurers fail on their first attempt. Beginners usually take around four attempts before they get in.”

 

“Beginner’s luck?” he offered, hoping that whatever he had done wasn’t out of the ordinary. The last thing he needed was people to suspect him of anything—he had tried to tone everything down, after all.

 

She looked unconvinced, but had no other protests. “If you had this amount of skill, you would have been more well known in the country. Regardless, come back to the office once you’ve collected yourself and I’ll give you your pass.”

 

“Right,” he shot back, but she was already walking away.

 

Once he was alone, he took a circle around the small area that had been labelled as the exit, trying to catch his breath and get back into the right frame of mind.

 

Sure, he’d gotten into the guild, but that was only the first, tiny step.

 

After all, his duty wasn’t to get into Yumenosaki.

 

It was to make sure Darkness’ strain of forbidden magic didn’t fall into the wrong hands.

 

 

—

 

At least the guild itself was more welcoming than the woman at the counter had been.

 

Talking to the girls was easy—it was simple enough to start up a conversation and joke about inviting them on the  _ dates  _ he’d learnt about while training for his role—but it never amounted to nothing much.

 

Some of the guys had tried to approach him as well. Maybe he just didn’t click well enough for them, or maybe he just found it easier to talk with girls, but when they had tried to talk to him, it always ended up all sorts of awkward.

 

“So, Hakaze, are you going to end up going on adventures yourself? That’s so cool—like a lone ranger or something!” Someone was rattling off beside his ear—was his name Chiaki? —and frankly, it was getting a little annoying. “It would be lonely, though. What about joining a team? Ah, but my Ryuseitai already has the maximum number of members! Sorry!”

 

“Nah, I haven’t decided yet.” He was only half paying attention to the other boy’s excited rambling, and the rest of his attention was focused on the board.

 

There were requests pinned all over the wall, but he was searching for one in particular. He’d heard it floating around somewhere, from some of the girls he’d talked to on his first day, but—  

 

“Take your time!” Chiaki gave him a hearty laugh. “You just joined, after all! Oh, but there’s a rumour that you breezed through the test! Is that true?”

 

He rubbed his head at that—had that  _ really  _ been circulating around? —and gave the brown-haired boy a nervous laugh. “I wouldn’t call it breezing through. Maybe I got lucky or something?”

 

Hoping his answer would give him a bit more time to breathe before Chiaki starting yelling into his year again, he returned to scanning the board, trying to find that one certain request that he had heard about.

 

“I have no doubt your skill is the real deal!” The boy gave him an enthusiastic nod at that. “Don’t underestimate yourself, Hakaze!”

 

“...Thanks?” He didn’t know how to respond to that, but something at the corner of his vision caught his eye, and he turned his gaze to look at it.

 

_ UNDEAD looking for last member of team _

 

“Oh, are you interested in that? Apparently they used to be called Deadmanz, but you see, a little of this and that happened! A lot of people have tried to apply, but it’s been up here for a week and a half and they still haven’t chosen someone.” Chiaki was rambling again, but this time, it was more useful than whatever he’d been talking about before, and he tried his best to listen and read at the same time.

 

_ We want someone who can use Wind, Water or Light _

 

“It’d be so cool if you tried for it! Are you going to? I’m cheering for you!”

 

_ Look for leader Sakuma Rei if you’re interested _

 

There it was. That was the guy he’d been unable to find during his first few days in the guild—the person he’d been instructed to keep an eye on.

 

“Huh.” He glanced back at him. “It seems interesting. Thanks for your input...Morisawa-kun?”

  
“No problem!” Chiaki patted him on the back. “I’m always down for helping a friend out. If you’re planning on looking for Sakuma, I think he sleeps for most of the day—though, I don’t really know  _ where  _ he sleeps…”

 

“Ah. Actually…” He tried to cut the other boy off. “It says where to find them down here, so it’s alright.”

 

Chiaki followed his gaze and responded with a sheepish chuckle. “R-Right! I didn’t notice that at all... still, do you need help going there? You’re new to this part of Somnia, aren’t you? Ryuseitai isn’t taking any missions right now, so I can guide you.”

 

“That won’t be necessary.”

 

They both startled at the voice behind them, and he barely paid attention to the loud greeting Chiaki tossed out as he turned around.

 

“I’ve heard a little bit about you, and I can’t say I wasn’t interested.”

 

The only coherent thought that ran through his mind was  _ well, that was convenient,  _ but he just laughed in response.

 

“What a coincidence,” he smiled back. “I was thinking the same thing.”

 

He looked up to meet Sakuma Rei’s crimson-hued gaze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> morisawa chiaki singlehandedly saved this chapter what a good man
> 
> anyway yEA i decided to make this take place in some fictional land :") and kaoru can you Stop Outing Yourself to people dammit
> 
> either way, i hope you enjoyed, and as usual, hmu @ ikanyaide on twitter!!


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